As Lightning Split the Sea
by Team Jem Carstairs
Summary: Will, Jem and Gabriel get sent to modern day America.  What happens if they can't get back? What if they don't want to? When they meet two supposedly mortal girls, what can they do but fall in love? *On hiatus until Clockwork Princess*
1. Chapter 1

**This story is the combined effort of myself and Ski October. It started off as a series of PMs, and progressed to this. We appreciate you taking the time to read this, and please review!**

**Disclaimer: We do not own Will, Jem or Gabriel, many thanks to Cassie Clare!**

"Grace! Grace, where _are_ you?" Elina called down the beach, looking for her friend. The sky was grey and thunder rumbled distantly, looking as though the clouds were about to release one hell of a torrential downpour. There was no answer from Grace, so Elina wandered a little farther up near the cluster of tide pools and caves at the beach's end. "Grace, it's about to rain. You need to come back! It's almost six, anyway, and I want dinner."

Elina Carter was barely eighteen and had recently acquired her own apartment, a mere twenty-minute walk from the beach. She was of average height, slender, with a heart shaped face, dark brown hair, and multicolored eyes. Her closest friend was Grace Blackwell, tall for her age of seventeen. She had only recently come to live with Elina, but tended to be a bit on the independent side. "Grace, I mean it! I'll leave without you!"

This time an answer came back. "God, Elina, I'm right here." The slender silhouette of Grace picked its way over the rocks to rejoin her friend. Her dirty blonde hair was wind-tousled and still damp from their swim, her skin not even a bit tanner than the morning. "Are you really that desperate to get home?"

"I told you, it's going to rain." She waved a hand in the general direction of the skyline, where storm clouds rolled menacingly. As they watched, a bolt of lightning plummeted into the far-off waves. Elina shivered in the sudden spray of mist the ocean threw over them and slipped her sundress over her bathing suit.

"Eh, we've got plenty of time," Grace scoffed, brushing sand off her shorts, but even as she said the words the sky opened up, drenching them instantly. Elina growled in annoyance as she rummaged in her bag for her baseball cap, which she pulled, with some difficulty, over her head of tangled locks. Her eyes, which changed between various shades of blue and green, were narrowed at her friend.

"Plenty of time, my ass! Lucky we live so close, or I'd take the car and you'd have to walk home!" She started striding away from Grace toward home, but the younger girl caught up quickly.

"Hey! Don't run away. I'm sorry I didn't listen." Elina said nothing. "Lina, I _am_ sorry. Want me to make dinner?"

Elina considered this. Grace only called her Lina in times of stress. "No, I'll take care of it. Thanks for offering, though. Sorry I'm being a bitch, I don't know what's wrong with me today."

They made the rest of the journey in silence, Grace kicking a rock down the beach, Elina humming to herself. They couldn't see anything but the driving sheets of rain; they couldn't even see each other. And yet, as lightning split the sea, they saw a trio of boys not twenty yards ahead. Elina, who had gotten a bit too much sun, wondered if it was an illusion. She nudged Grace with her elbow.

"Do you see those three boys? You do, right? I'm not imagining them, right?" Grace nodded then shook her head, a confirmation of their existence. They hesitated but decided to at least ask if the boys needed a ride anywhere. They looked quite lost, and no one deserved to be out in such weather.

"Uh, hi," Elina said when they reached the trio. She was put off by their clothing, which seemed terribly out of place, not just for July, or the beach, but also for the time period. They looked like they would be right at home a hundred-something years ago, with their nice pants, vests (she vaguely remembered they used to be called waistcoats) and jackets. It was like they were on their way to a wedding, but even that wasn't quite right.

"Do you need a ride somewhere? It's just that my friend and I would hate to be in this weather, so we thought… Well, that you shouldn't be in it either."

The boy in the middle, a handsome dark-haired one with piercing blue eyes, turned to the boy on his right. "Jem, what do you say? Now that we're stuck here– and make no mistake, I'll murder Henry when I find him– we might as well have somewhere to stay, right?"

The boy called Jem, a curious thing with strange silvery hair and eyes, shrugged. "They asked if we wanted a ride, not a place to stay. If we could get that…" He turned to Elina and smiled. "I don't suppose you know where we can stay for the night, or a few nights?" He had a pleasant voice, a British accent, and seemed genuinely kind. Elina checked with Grace.

"What do you say? The apartment's big enough."

"No, absolutely not. We don't even know them! What if they're, like, crazy killers or something?"

"What are the chances of that? Come on, it's just for a few nights, and they seem nice enough."

Grace sighed in apparent aggravation. "Whatever, it's your apartment. I'm just living there. Do what you want."

"Now I know why your mother kicked you out," Elina muttered before turning back to Jem. "Come on, then. It's cold and I'm wet and starving. Follow me." The three boys trailed after her obediently. The doorman, Jeff, shot her a glance that clearly said "And just where did you pick them up?"

"Ask me no questions and I shall tell you no lies, Jeff. They're staying with me for a couple of days." The elevators were, as usual, out of order, so she started sprinting up the staircase, taking the steps a few at a time. She was, as she always was, out of breath by the time she reached the third floor. Grace was too, but the strangers were not. They were in good shape considering none of them looked older than Elina herself, eighteen or nineteen at most.

"Now," she said as she unlocked her door and stepped inside, "I think we need to know who you guys are and how you ended up on the beach with no way to get… wherever you were before." She took off her hat and tossed it in a corner with her bag.

The dark-haired blue-eyed one answered first. "I'm called Herondale, Will Herondale."

His friend Jem spoke up next. "James Carstairs, but call me Jem."

The last boy stepped inside. "Gabriel Lightwood." He had an angular face, hair the color of black coffee and brilliantly green eyes. Grace took an instant liking to him. "And, uh, how did you get here?"

Will shot Jem a glance. "How do we explain?"

"I suppose we explain who and what we are before we can explain how we got here."

"Whoa, whoa," Elina interjected. "What d'you mean, _what_ you are? You're human, aren't you? Or are you an alien come to kill and eat us?"

"I don't know about alien, but I am not entirely human," Will declared. "None of us are. Well, neither Jem nor me nor Gabriel are, at any rate. We are a special– race, as it were, of demon killers."

"Demon killers," Grace repeated. "Am I supposed to believe this?"

"That would make it easier, yes," said Gabriel. "They call us the Nephilim, Shadowhunters, a race of humans created to kill the demons that would ravage the Earth to ashes if we did not prevent it. We used special weapons"– he indicated a blade strapped to his belt, like a shard of ice. The girls wondered why they did not see it before– "and have special markings, called runes, on our skin to… well, they do many different things."

"Runes and demons and Shadowhunters," Elina repeated softly. "And the tattoos, the runes, you all have them?"

"Yes," Jem answered slowly, shooting Will a glance of confusion. "Why?"

"Because I've seen them before! A man, I saw him on the beach just last week, he had those same tattoos… The only one I remember was–" She grabbed Jem's right hand and examined it, yelling in triumph. "This one! The one like an eye!"

"I didn't see any man with those markings," Grace said with a tone of finality, like she was the only sane one of the lot. "I think you must've imagined things."

"I did not! I saw him, I did, I know it!"

"We believe you," Jem said, taking his hand back carefully. "We put on glamours most of the time– glamours hide us from view– but you must've seen through it. I'm impressed, it's not often one meets a mundane with the Sight."

"Wait," Elina begged. "I don't understand."

"There is a world, the Shadow World, where the demons and people like us live. It's hidden from your mortal world, the mundane world. Mundanes are what we call ordinary people. Mundanes with the Sight– like you, apparently– can see through the glamours we put on. You see the world for what it is."

"So she's special, and I'm not? Why can I see you now, then?" Grace asked angrily. She didn't like being outshone by the others, like they were better than her because they could see something she couldn't.

"Because we removed our glamours. We needed you, so we let you see us as we were," Gabriel said quietly.

Elina nodded. "But… why are you telling us all of this?"

"Why did you invite us to stay?" Will said in an arrogant voice, spreading out on the floor and unbuttoning the black jacket he wore.

"Because you looked cold and wet and lonely, and you didn't have anywhere else to stay."

"We could have been murderers. How did you know we were trustworthy?"

"I didn't," she admitted. "I just took a guess. I'm big on adventure, and just looking into Jem's eyes convinced me."

Will shot Jem, who had sunk to the floor a few feet from Will, a carefully appraising look. "You have a gift, my friend. The gift of manipulation. You must use this power, but don't forget, with great power comes great responsibility."

"I was honest, William. I don't know how to manipulate, that's your job, isn't it? Now, unless I am very much mistaken, she did ask why were telling them all this. Because," he started, turning back to Elina with a soft smile, "you need a reason to trust us, and we can't give you that unless you know who we are. You did ask us that before, remember. Besides, you have a touch of the Sight. You ought to know the truth of who you are and about the world you live in."

Grace nodded. "So now that we know who you are, how did you get here without any way to get back? And who's Henry, and why do you want to kill him?"

"Henry is… a friend," Will said with a bit of thought. "It's his damn fault that we're here, that–" He let out a string of curses.

Grace swore under her breath. "Just tell us what happened, why don't you?"

"What year are we in?" Gabriel asked suddenly from his place in the corner. Grace shot him a sideways look. "It's 2011, why wouldn't it be?"

Jem looked down. "Because we just came from 1878, London, and we are not in England anymore, are we? No, your accents give you away."

"London? 1878?" Elina asked in shock. "You must have– I dunno, time-traveled or something to get here!" She was surprised that she believed them, but they seemed honest, and after everything she had learned about Shadowhunters that explained so much, nothing was too unbelievable anymore.

"That," Gabriel said bitterly, "is exactly what happened. Henry was fooling around with magic again, and here we are."

"Magic? You can do magic?" Grace said excitedly.

"No, we can't," Will corrected with his eyes closed. "Henry was messing around with things far too advanced for him– for any human, in fact. That should be left to the warlocks."

"Warlocks? There are warlocks? What exactly–" Elina said, but Jem interrupted. "We'll talk about that some other time, I think. Yes, Will was helping Henry, I was looking for Will, and Charlotte– Henry's wife– sent Gabriel down to fetch the three of us for dinner. We got… sucked in, I suppose you'd say, and found ourselves on the beach with no one in sight but you two."

Elina hopped up from where she had been perching on the arm of a chair. "Dinner! I suppose you all will need to be fed as well… Well, I can manage it, if you eat spaghetti. I guess it doesn't matter, 'cause if you don't eat it you can go hungry." She headed into the small kitchen adjacent to the living room and grabbed a pot for pasta.

Grace stretched. "Lina, I'm taking a shower before dinner."

"Sure, go ahead, just don't take too long and for God's sake don't use all the hot water or I will murder you in your bed."

She rolled her eyes but strode into her bedroom, grabbing a change of clothes and a towel. As long as she was in sight, Gabriel watched her, eyes dipping from her face, to her waist, to her legs and back up. When she was gone he relaxed.

Will, meanwhile, had stripped himself of all unnecessary clothing, wearing only his trousers and shirt, which was untucked and had a few buttons undone. Jem sighed. "Will, kindly keep your clothes on, if not for her sake then for mine." Something hit him. "I'm sorry, miss, but I've realized I haven't caught your name."

Elina turned to him, wooden spoon in hand. "Elina Carter."

"Pretty name," he said with a smile. "Elina."

"Who's your friend?" Gabriel and Will asked simultaneously. They glared at each other before turning to Elina expectantly.

She smirked, recognizing the look in their eyes. Most boys got that looked when they looked at Grace, who was, after all, quite pretty. "Grace, Grace Blackwell."

Will frowned. "Blackwell is a Shadowhunter name. The stars will fall from Heaven before I thought I'd meet a Shadowhunter who not only doesn't know what she is, but doesn't even have the Sight! She's like an anomaly…" His voice trailed off thoughtfully as Grace came back in, towel wrapped around her head.

"Oh, excellent, dinner's ready."


	2. Chapter 2

**As always, many thanks to Miss Ski october for all her contributions to our joint effort. :) We hope you enjoy the story, and please review it so that we know what to work on in the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Only C squared could be fabulous enough to have full rein over the boys. **

The group ate in silence, for the most part, though halfway through Grace had to ask. "Can someone explain about warlocks?"

Will swallowed his mouthful of food. "Warlocks are half-human and half-demon. They can do magic, unlike Shadowhunters, mundanes and other Downworlders."

"Wait, what's a Downworlder?" Elina interrupted. Jem stepped in to explain in a patient voice.

"Downworlders are beings that are part supernatural in origin. There are warlocks, werewolves and vampires– they're humans with a demon disease– and faeries, who are half-demon and half-angel, and therefore possess great beauty and an evil nature."

"What are Shadowhunters, then? Why are you… the way you are?"

"Angel blood," Gabriel said. "A thousand years ago, an angel mixed his blood with that of a mortal and gave the mixture to a few men to drink. Everyone who drank of it began the race of Shadowhunters."

"And then there's us, the mundanes of the world, nothing supernatural about us," Grace said with a shrug.

"Actually–" Will started, but Jem shot him a significant look and cleared his throat loudly, so Will fell silent.

When everyone had finished eating, Elina collected the plates and dumped them in the sink. She stared down at them for almost a full minute, mentally debating about whether it was worth the effort to do them now. A notorious procrastinator, she had just decided if they weren't getting done now they were never getting done when a shadow fell over her. She looked around in confusion to see Jem standing behind her, smiling.

"I thought you wouldn't mind some help cleaning up," he said in an almost apologetic tone. "Will says I have a problem, but I like things to be clean." He shrugged.

Elina smiled. "You can help if you want to. You wash and I'll dry, because I know where everything goes."

With two of them, things were cleaned up much quicker than they usually would have been, and Elina loved chatting with Jem. He was an excellent listener, that was true, but he threw in little remarks at all the right times that kept her laughing. His dry sense of humor was surprising, but not unwelcome.

Just as soon as they were finished, and headed into the living room to join the others, the lights flickered and died. "Ah, damn it," Elina said mildly. "Power's out."

"Now what do we do?" Grace asked from somewhere in the corner. The sun had set long ago, and with the storm, it was too dark to see.

Elina grinned, which no one could see but everyone could sense by the tone of voice she used when she spoke. "You know what we _could_ do…"

"I don't, but I like the way it sounds already," Will said in a thoroughly inappropriate lascivious voice. Jem shushed him. "Will, shut up."

To everyone's surprise, he listened to Jem and shut his mouth, though not for long, they suspected. "Not _that_, Will, but I don't think anyone would object to a nostalgic game of Truth or Dare?"

Grace clapped her hands. "Yes! I haven't played this since we were kids. I made my neighbor kiss me once." Her announcement was met by silence and a palpable confusion from the boys. She sighed. "This is how to play, boys. The first person to go asks another person, truth or dare? If they pick truth, they have to answer a question. If they pick dare, well, they'll have to do something stupid and probably embarrassing."

"Stupid and embarrassing is my specialty," Will said. Their eyes had now adjusted enough to the darkness that they could see the faintest outlines of each other.

"Then you'll love this," Grace said with a snort. "Elina, truth or dare?"

"Dare. No, truth. I'm not up to doing something stupid yet. Truth."

"Why did you really break up with Jack? You said it was because he cheated on you, but I don't believe it. Why?"

Elina was quiet for a moment, long enough that Grace opened her mouth to ask again before she answered. "Because I didn't love him," she said simply. "He told me he loved me, and I didn't love him back, so I left. I didn't tell _you_ that because you would, in that meddling way of yours, find someway to keep us together by convincing me I loved him."

"Oh," Grace said quietly. She had always had a soft spot for kindly, hazel-eyed Jack, but she had never before realized that her friend didn't like him the same way he liked– loved– her.

"Anyway," Elina pressed on, "Will: truth or dare?"

"Dare, clearly," he said in a "that-should-be-obvious" tone. Elina grinned evilly. This was going to be fun.

"Kiss Gabriel."

There was a roar of outrage from the party concerned. "If you get anywhere near me, Herondale, I swear I am going to–" Gabriel made a number of comments that were both unbecoming and improper. Will making kissy noises was not helping his case.

"Come on, Lightwood, don't be such a prude." And before Gabriel could protest, Will kissed him swiftly on the mouth. When he pulled away, he jumped back so as to avoid Gabriel's swinging fist.

"Will Herondale, you son of a bitch!"

"Yes?" Will's voice was infuriatingly amused. "Why are you so upset? It was meaningless. Unless… that wasn't your first kiss, was it?"

"No! That's– that's not the _point,_" Gabriel stuttered.

Will broke in before Gabriel could go off on a tangent. "Jem! Truth or dare?"

"Er… dare?"

"Is that a question?"

"No?"

"All right, then," Will laughed. "Your turn for a kiss, then."

Jem groaned. "If I kiss Gabriel, he'll kill me. Not to mention that the thought does not appeal to me in the slightest."

"No, not Gabriel. At least, I don't think so. Pick whomever strikes your fancy."

It was silent for a minute in the darkness until Elina felt a pair of warm lips cover her own. She braced her hands behind her and let out a little cry of surprise, but as soon as she relaxed, Jem pulled away. It disappointed her more than anything.

"Well?" Will asked, as unable as the rest of them to know what was going on. "Aren't you going to do it?"

"He did," Elina said in a strained voice. Will let out a whoop of laughter.

"Now which one are you, the blonde or the brunette?"

"We have _names_," Grace said irritably.

"Well, I don't know them."

"I'm Elina," she said quietly. "The brunette." Will laughed again. "Ah, Jem, I saw the way you were looking at her!"

"And how _was_ I looking at her?" Jem asked dryly.

"You know. Like she was a goddess stepped down from Olympus."

Grace snorted. "Lord, Will, didn't know you were so much of a romantic."

"I'm not, but Jem is, and I had to get through to him in a way he would understand."

"I understand you, Will," Jem said quietly. You could almost feel the temperature increase as his face heated up. "Now, if you wouldn't mind _not_ continuing this portion of the conversation, I would be immensely grateful."

"Immensely grateful, eh?" Grace said knowingly, nudging him with an elbow. "You like her." This last part was whispered so that only he could hear.

"I– yes," Jem whispered back. "Just… please don't say anything, to anyone. I just met her, and I don't want to come off as… coming on too strong."

"Too strong? No such thing."

Jem sighed. "Spend more time with Will, and you will never say that again, I promise you."

"Hey, is anyone going to do this? Jem, your turn to ask someone," Elina said in a bossy sort of voice.

"Er, Gabriel, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Gabriel said firmly. "I'm not kissing anyone."

"Truth…" Jem thought over the possibilities. He thought about what Will had said earlier. "_Was_ that your first kiss? With Will?"

"I already told you, no! Ugh, absolutely not."

"Well," Will drawled, "I'm afraid you'll have to tell us who it _was_ with for us to believe you."

Gabriel stuttered a little and mumbled something incoherent. "Sorry, what was that?" Will asked, enjoying his discomfort.

"_Jessamine_," Gabriel whispered in mortification.

Jem and Will started laughing until tears streamed down their faces. Gabriel felt he had to defend himself, so he said, "I was drunk, all right? I wasn't thinking straight, and she let me, and you know as well as I how pretty she is…"

"She has a horrid personality," Will managed to say.

"All I know is that Will has done far more interesting things while drunk," Jem choked out. "And with girls nicer than Jessie."

"Like Liz," Will contributed, still chuckling weakly.

Gabriel growled. "I'll thank you _not_ to speak of my sister."

"How unfortunate that the prospect of your gratitude is not a tempting one."

Elina nudged Jem's foot with her own. "Are they always like this?"

"Yes," he said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Will and Gabriel were bickering like an old married couple, prompting Jem to say, "Hey! You two! Don't make me turn the hose on you!"

"Jem's a secret badass," Elina muttered to Grace, who laughed.

"Gabriel, don't you have something to ask Grace?" Jem asked desperately, trying to keep him from killing Will.

"I suppose," Gabriel said, chest heaving from the effort of not beating Will into a pulp. "Go out with me, Blackwell?"

Grace gasped, took off her flip-flop and threw it as hard as she could in his direction. Unfortunately, in the chaos, she missed and got Will spectacularly across the face.

"The hell? What did I do?"

"I was _aiming_ for Gabriel. How do you even know my last name?"

"I told them," Elina said, afraid to be hit as well. She and Grace were as close as sisters, which meant they sometimes acted like sisters and resorted to fist fighting. They hadn't done it in years, but you never know. "Please relax."

"He's just making up for lost time and experience," Will translated expertly. "Ignore him and maybe he'll go away."

Just as Grace opened her mouth to protest, the lights came back on as suddenly as if someone had flicked the switch. They were all sprawled on the floor, Grace looking furious, Will with a bruise forming on his cheek, Gabriel blushing, and Jem and Elina on the sidelines.

Grace stared at Gabriel for a minute before jumping to her feet and saying, "I'm going to bed. Night, Lina." She stormed off to her bedroom, everyone staring after her.

"Guess that's our cue," Jem said softly.

"Right, well," Elina said, standing up and becoming businesslike. "Gabriel, you take the guest bedroom. First door on your left, that way." She pointed after Grace, and after a moment of hesitation, Gabriel left. She turned to the remaining two members of the party.

"Will, you can sleep on the couch."

"The couch?" He took one look at the exasperation on Elina's face and went willingly. He kicked his shoes off and threw himself down, stretching with a groan of pleasure. "This is much more comfortable then it looked…"

"Jem…" Elina bit her lip. "Short of the bathtub or the floor, I don't really know what to do."

"I'll take the floor, I don't mind. We intruded on your hospitality, after all."

"Don't say that. I don't mind, truly. I suppose we could… Hold on." She dashed down the hall, and he heard the click of a door opening and closing. She came strolling back toward him. "Follow me. Night, Will."

Will let out a soft breath, already asleep. Jem shook his head, amused that his friend was so adaptable, and followed Elina obediently to the room at the far end of the hall. It appeared to be the master bedroom, with a huge four-poster bed in the middle.

Jem looked around, impressed but not sure why he was here until Elina gestured to the bed. "There you go."

"I– no, this can't be right. Where will you sleep?"

"In the bed."

"Then what about me?"

"Also the bed."

"I don't understand…"

Elina sighed and laughed a little. "I thought you were clever! We can share it. It's big enough, and as long as you promise not to try anything… I trust you more than the others. I'm not asking anything of you, but you need somewhere to sleep, and I thought…" Her voice trailed off at the look of horror on Jem's face. "Okay, you don't want to. I get it, I just–"

"No, no, it's not that!" Jem corrected quickly. "Your time is very different than mine. In my time, this would be scandalous, but when in Rome…" He slid his boots off, also unbuttoning his jacket and waistcoat. When he was just in his shirt and pants, he sat on the bed, respectfully turning away when Elina made to change into her pajamas.

Bedecked in her sweatpants and t-shirt, her hair in a ponytail, Elina crawled into bed and motioned for Jem to do the same. As he stayed as close to the edge as he could without falling off, she had to scoot over a lot to whisper in his ear. "Thanks for the kiss," she murmured, pressing her lips to the top of his cheekbone and sliding back to her side of the bed, flipping off the light. With the taste of him on her lips, and the imprint of her on his cheek, they fell asleep quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

**There was going to be more to this chapter, but honestly, I've been busy and have serious writer's block, and I did want to update before I go away for a week, so here's chapter 3. More will be forthcoming, eventually.**

**Disclaimer: Cassie gave me the characters, and many thanks to my homie Ski October for being my faithful partner. :)**

The first thing Elina noticed when she woke up was that she was, as usual, spread across her bed in its entirety. The second thing she noticed was that one arm and a leg were thrown across something that was most assuredly not her mattress. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up quickly, looking around to see that about half of her body was wrapped around Jem, who was also awake and looking thoroughly embarrassed, frozen in place.

"Jem!" she yelped as she hurried to jump out of bed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to– I forgot that that usually happens, I didn't mean to try anything, and I dunno–"

"It's fine," he assured her, face burning as he stood up. "I didn't– should we go see if the others are awake?"

"Let's," she agreed, pulling the elastic out of her hair and running a brush through it. Jem held the door open for her as she ran down the hall, locking herself in the bathroom for a minute or two. She hadn't meant to crawl all over Jem while they were sleeping, but it had happened anyway. How awkward… he was going to think she did it on purpose. After all, she was the one who insisted they sleep in the same bed. After she had debated the point furiously with herself, and splashed some cold water on her face, she slipped out of the bathroom with her heart pounding.

Will was sitting at the kitchen counter, shirtless and chatting with Jem, whose face had paled since she had last seen him. They both looked over as she walked in. "Where's your friend?" Will asked.

"I don't know. Asleep, I assume. Where's Gabriel?"

"Probably with your friend."

"She has a name, and I doubt it. She's… not his biggest fan."

"Not hard to see why, honestly," Will said with a chuckle.

"I think the real question here is why are you shirtless?" Jem asked, shaking his head as though this came as no real surprise to him. "It's generally frowned upon for men to remove their clothing in the presence of a lady."

"Well, in this century I doubt she's a lady, I didn't take it off in her presence, I don't care about being proper, and there are exceptions to every rule," he retorted. "It's not something she hasn't seen before, I'm assuming?" He turned to Elina expectantly, who rolled her eyes.

"I've seen more than that. A lot more."

"You see?" Will turned back to Jem. "As for why, it was hot last night."

Jem shot a brief, blush-inducing glance at Elina. "I know."

Will looked back and forth between the two of them, a grin spreading across his face. "Oh, hell, Jem! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? Oh," Jem said in recognition, turning an even more furious shade of scarlet. "I didn't! We didn't– nothing like that!"

Will let out a whoop of laughter. "Ah, you bastard. Don't lie to me, I can read it on your face."

"If you can read it when it isn't even there, I shudder to think what you'll say when I actually do it."

Elina cleared her throat. "You could ask _me_, Will, I'm the party concerned."

"Unless your answer differs from his it doesn't matter. Does it?"

"Well, no… Why would it be such a big deal, anyway?"

Will sighed as though the answer pained him to admit. "Because Jem has never–"

"Will, I don't think this is pertinent information," Jem said loudly, eyes wide. "She doesn't need to know that I– it doesn't matter."

Elina shrugged. "I don't care. A lot of people haven't, Grace included, and I'm assuming Gabriel hasn't either, so it shouldn't matter. God knows Will's example isn't one to follow, nor is mine."

At that moment Grace, looking tired, shuffled into the kitchen. "Oh, here's my ray of sunshine," Elina crooned. She was much more of a morning person than Grace, who mumbled something about it being too early for this kind of thing. Gabriel followed her in, running a hand through his hair with a mysterious smile on his face. Will giggled like a small child.

"Look, he's happy and she's tired. I told you!"

Grace turned to Elina with half-closed eyes. "What is he on about?"

"He thinks you had sex with Gabriel."

Grace took the few steps necessary to reach Will and cracked her palm against his cheek, which was still red from her flip-flop assault the night before. "And if you _ever_ imply anything like that again, it will be worse."

Will sat there in a state of shock, his hand pressed to his aching face. He wasn't used to anyone standing up to him, not unless he counted Gabriel's baseless threats and Jem's muttered reprimands, and he didn't count either. No one, especially not a teenage girl, had ever struck him, though he suspected Charlotte had come close a few times. When he was over his astonishment, he had to congratulate her. "Strong hands. I'm impressed."

Grace started making a pot of coffee, allowing her to ignore Will with practiced skill. "I'm making eggs. Who wants them?"

When everyone murmured their assent, she took out the frying pan and a carton of eggs and set to work making scrambled eggs, which were easy and always tasted better than when Elina attempted to make them.

Everyone ate quickly, and Jem and Elina once again took over the task of dishes. When even that was done, the girls could no longer delay the inevitable. "Look, you three," a much more awake Grace started, "You need to accept the fact that in America, in 2011, in July on the beach, you don't fit in. You need different clothes, and Elina and I have no choice but to drag you out and go shopping."

"I apologize in advance," Elina added. "But she's right. You do need to get new clothes."

Will and Jem had a sudden unpleasant image of the few times they had to go shopping with Jessamine and shuddered at the memories. "I don't know if–" Jem began, but the girls raised their eyebrows in an authoritative manner and he fell silent.

"Good," Elina said with a smile. "I'll just get dressed and we can go." She headed back to her room and chose short jean shorts and a chocolate brown tank top. Grace met her when she was changed, in a knee-length red sundress. Will, who had thankfully put his shirt back on, whistled appreciatively and eyed Grace's long legs. He looked away quickly when she raised her hand in a threatening manner.

Elina grabbed her hat, slid her shoes on and found her keys and wallet. She led the little procession out the back door, saluted Jeff the doorman, and hopped in her car. "Get in, everyone."

"Shotgun!" Grace called as she jumped in the passenger seat of the little silver convertible. The boys got in reluctantly, unsure of what to make of this new form of transportation. Gabriel made a strangled sort of yelp when the engine revved, and Jem had to yell to Will that Henry would be fascinated. By the time they reached the mall, which was only a few minutes away, Will was grinning in delight and Gabriel looked rather sick.

"Good Lord, is this how you get everywhere?" he asked as he climbed out, tripping but barely remaining standing.

"Yes," Grace said with barely controlled laughter. "Why, how do you Shadowhunters do it?"

"In London we walked, or took a carriage, not this… thing." He looked up, apparently startled to realize he was chatting casually with Grace. "About last night–"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"No, I just mean I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously."

"And normally I would _never_ say something like that, but Will was irritating me, and… there's no excuse, but I am sorry, truly."

Grace made a noncommittal humming noise and brushed her hair off her shoulder. Gabriel frowned and touched a finger to the dark tattoo he could see only the edge of, some unknown shape on her right shoulder blade. They both gasped as they were hit by a jolt of electricity.

"By the Angel, you've got some sort of power in that tattoo. What is it?"

She turned around to let him see the design clearly, which made him gasp again. It was a snake, curled into a perfect circle, biting its own tail. "_Ouroboros_?"

"'Tail-devourer,'" she translated in surprise as she turned back to face him. "How did I know that?"

"Never mind that, where did you get the idea for this?"

She shrugged. "Saw it in a book when I was little, and it stuck in my mind, I guess. All I know is that when my mom saw it she kicked me out."

While Grace and Gabriel conferred, Elina was trying to ignore Will's insinuations about the night before. Finally she couldn't stand it. "For the love of God, Will, shut up! I didn't have sex with Jem, okay? We shared a bed out of necessity."

"Oh, like I'm supposed to believe this."

"How can we convince you?" Jem asked desperately.

Will shrugged, mischief glinting in his cobalt eyes. "She could… _prove _that she isn't interested in you."

She sighed. "Lemme guess. You want me to sleep with _you_ to prove I'm not interested in Jem. Let's go with no."

"You sure? Otherwise the teasing commences immediately."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," she said in a bored voice, examining her fingernails. "If you have such confusions about where my 'interests' lie, let me make it very clear." Her voice trailed off throatily as she stepped forward and ran her fingers down his chest.

Will swallowed, but played it cool. Just as he made to kiss her, Elina turned away and kissed Jem swiftly on the mouth. Before either of them could react, she whirled around and strode over to bother Grace and Gabriel. Jem was left holding a hand to his mouth and blushing scarlet, eyes huge, while Will was furiously sulking as he trailed after her.

"Herondale, look at this," Gabriel said animatedly, gesturing to Grace's shoulder. Elina frowned. "What's so exciting about her tattoo?"

"Because _ouroboros,_ dear Elina, is not a mundane symbol," Will explained, all trace of annoyance gone to be replaced with astonishment. "It belongs with the alchemists, and I doubt your friend is an alchemist. In fact, I doubt anyone these days messes around with alchemy, so where could she have found this?"

"She said she saw it in a book," Gabriel provided, still examining the snake on Grace's back.

"I did! You don't think I'm lying, do you? I was really little, I just pulled a book off the shelf and opened it. I don't think I could even read back then, but I never forgot the snake thing… I've been wanting to get a tattoo of it since I was twelve, but I only did it last month. When my mom saw it, she kicked me out," she said quickly. "What does it mean, besides 'tail-devourer'? And don't ask how I translated that, because I don't know."

Jem furrowed his brow. "Gabriel, you didn't tell her?"

"No, I just said it was _ouroboros _and she translated it on the spot."

Elina exhaled sharply. "Look, if your Shadow World is as secret as you say, I don't think the best place to be discussing this is in a parking lot. We can talk about it tonight, back home, all right?"

Will nodded. "I suppose you're right. I don't know what to think of you, Grace, but there is something odd about you and I will find out what it is."

Grace shrugged, turning back to face them and shaking her hair back over her tattoo. "So… should we go in and buy stuff?"

"Sounds like a plan," Elina agreed, and as they dragged the boys in after them, it occurred to Grace that this was the first time Will had referred to her by name.


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so, so sorry that this took so long to be updated. I've been so busy, and I wasn't sure about the ending, and Ski October is too busy with her own geekness to respond to my messages, so... I apologize profusely. Here you go, don't hate, please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the infernal brilliance of the Infernal Devices.**

Their shopping went better than expected. It's true that the boys were less than enthusiastic about the whole thing, but they bore it reasonably well. Gabriel, who had never gone shopping with Jessie, (Will and Jem were all too used to her sharp tone of voice and irritating personality) spent much of the time fidgeting and glancing wistfully at the exit. Will was unusually quiet, his mind focused on Grace's tattoo and Shadowhunter surname. Jem was his usual mellow self, his dry observations keeping at least Gabriel out of too much trouble.

"Okay, last store, I promise," Elina said, leading the rest of the group like a flock of ducks. A chronic shopaholic, she had exhibited an enormous amount of self-restraint and purchased only one thing for herself: a white, blue and green golf cap, perched jauntily on her head.

"That's what you said last time," Gabriel observed, dragging his feet like a small child.

"Well, I lied."

"Who's to say you're not lying this time?"

"Nothing. Trust me, and hurry up!" Grace fell in beside Gabriel, laughing.

"You get used to it," she said. "Or if you don't, well… I doubt you'll need to do this again, unless you're here for years or something."

"I will not be here for years," Gabriel said. He swore when he tripped over his own feet, having been distracted by Grace's eyes. She cocked her head. "Not very graceful, are you?"

"I try. And fail, mind you, but I try. I don't usually trip, you know."

"Distracting, am I?" she said in a singsong voice, skipping ahead to walk beside Elina.

"Something like that, yeah," he muttered, shaking his head as though to clear it.

Jem looked around with interest. This was, he knew, the only time he would ever see anything of the sort, and he was going to take in as much as he could while he had the chance. He nudged Will, who was standing still with an odd look on his face.

"Will, what are you thinking about? You look as though you're far away."

"Just thinking about that Grace," he said slowly. "There's something about her, something unusual, but I don't know what…"

"Well, now is not the time. We can figure it out later. Look, we've nearly lost them." Gabriel, Grace and Elina were a dozen yards ahead, looking at something in the shop, whereas Will and Jem were standing in the middle of the corridor. "Come on, William."

Will did as he was told and followed Jem, though he was still thinking hard. He had always prided himself on his perception, and not knowing something frustrated him to no end.

Eventually– it was only a quarter hour, yet it seemed so much longer to Gabriel– the motley crew trooped back to Elina's car. The boys were more aware of what to expect, though it wasn't an entirely pleasant experience: they were unused to traveling by car, and the speedometer never dipped below seventy the whole way home. Luckily it was a short drive, though some of that could have been relative to the speed, and it was with relief that they stumbled out of the little silver convertible. Grace, a seasoned veteran of Elina's crazy driving, hopped out of the car without even opening the door.

Elina left everyone else to take the bags of clothes while she went inside to grab her mail. As such, she was the last one to close the door of her apartment, flipping through the various letters, bills, and junk.

"Oh, I don't _believe_ it!" she exclaimed, throwing something on the counter where everyone else was assembled. Grace snatched it up first.

"You are cordially invited to the Midsummer's Ball, being held on July 19 at the residence of Mrs. and Mr. Samuel H. Carter," she read, holding up the ivory invitation with the words embossed in gold. She wrinkled her nose. "Wow, that seems pretty fancy considering they're your _parents_."

"I know!" Elina cried, throwing her hands up. "How hard would it be just to give me a phone call? No, they have to send some formal invitation. I would be perfectly content with a 'hey, Elina, show up on this day. Dress nice.'"

"What's going on now?" Jem asked, a crease in his forehead. "Someone's invited somewhere by your parents?"

"Yes," Elina explained slowly, taking deep breaths to calm down. "My parents hold a ball at midsummer every year, which is only…" She counted the days on her fingers. "Three days from now, on Saturday night. It just annoys me that they have to invite me in such a formal way. I mean, I'm their _daughter_. I don't need some gold-lettered invite."

"Lina, aren't they going to be coming?" Grace asked quietly, gesturing at the trio of seated boys. "If we don't get them back in time, they'll be there too."

"Ah, _damn it!_" she said, followed by a string of worse curses. "I need a sandwich." She stuck her head in the fridge, pulling out roast beef and provolone cheese. She grabbed a loaf of bread and made a sandwich, somewhat more violently than usual.

"You don't think your parents will like us, is that it?" Will asked with his usual grin. "I can stay here, I don't mind."

Jem said, "No, Will, you'll be going," at the same moment Elina said, "No, they'll love you. A bit too much, probably, with your _manners_ and your _accents._ My mother will be expecting a marriage proposal, I'm sure." She tore a chunk of sandwich off, implying she did not wish to continue the conversation any further. Grace shrugged and made her own lunch.

When all of them had eaten, and Elina had relaxed, it was the unanimous decision that because of the heat, the beach was a good idea. "I don't know that I've ever _been_ to the beach," Gabriel commented, pulling a t-shirt over his head.

"How can you have never been to the beach?" Jem remarked. The three boys, as usual, were left waiting for the girls. They already knew from experience that women took much longer to get dressed than men.

"I was born and raised in London. Not a lot of ocean there."

"You didn't take a holiday to the shore?" Will asked. Having grown up in Wales, he had seen a lot of the ocean, more than he would like to see again.

"No, I didn't. The closest I've gotten is the Thames, and no one swims in the Thames."

Grace's door opened first, and she came down the hall tying a gauzy wrap around her hips. She wore a dark green bikini that brought out the color in her hazel eyes, and with her dark shades she looked a bit like a movie star. She looked around. "Where's Elina? Still getting ready?"

"But of course," Will said, closing his eyes lazily.

"Elina!" Grace shouted. "We're leaving without you!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she called back, opening her door and rushing out, hopping a bit as she tried to slide her sandal on. She wore a bikini of her own, bright orange against her tan skin, and her dark hair was pulled back in a braid. "God, you're impatient."

"Well, we try," Jem said dryly, hopping up from his perch on the couch. Will took a good long look at the girls, so much smooth skin exposed, and murmured to Jem: "I think I like this century."

Grace led them this time, breaking into a run at the beach's edge. She untied her wrap, slid off her shoes and took off her sunglasses, leaving everything in a pile before running into the surf. She let out a whoop of excitement. "Oh, this is _awesome_! It was so hot, and the water's so cold…"

Elina removed her extraneous items and ran in after Grace, braid bouncing against her back. She only looked back once. "Aren't you coming?"

Will, who relished a chance to show off his abs, removed his shirt and followed the girls with a devil-may-care grin. Jem and Gabriel exchanged shrugs and raced down the beach, somehow able to keep their footing on the uneven ground. Gabriel tried to wade in slowly, but a wave crashed over his head before he could let out more than a strangled yelp. He surfaced, spluttering, and managed to make his way to the others a ways out.

"_How_ do the rest of you keep afloat?" he asked, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes.

"I spent twelve years on the shores of Wales," Will said, "so I think I know how to swim."

"Eleven years in Shanghai," Jem added, "where there were a few ponds and lakes."

"All of our lives right here," Elina said, gesturing to her and Grace, who got that look on her face like she had an idea.

"Will, can you touch bottom here?" she asked. Will nodded. "Good. Elina, remember when my dad used to take us out here? Remember what he showed us how to do?"

"Oh, yeah! But then he stopped taking us, and we didn't know any other tall guys…"

"What are you on about?" Will asked, his glance swiveling between the pair of girls.

"Will, just stand still, okay?" Grace clambered onto his back, standing on his shoulders, completely out of the water. She gave the others below a confident bob of her eyebrows before doing an incredible backflip, head over heels off of Will. She surfaced from where she had gone under, bobbing in the waves and gasping for air. "I haven't done that in years, I was a bit afraid I'd break something."

"That was… incredible," Jem said, impressed. "You learned that when you were a child?"

"Yeah, but it was easier then… I guess because I was short."

"And now you're freakishly tall," Elina laughed. It was ironic; she was older, and had always been taller, than Grace, who had been a tiny little thing as a child. Then she shot up and was suddenly taller than everyone but the men.

They frolicked– Elina supposed that was the best word for it– for about an hour before grabbing their things and heading back towards the apartment. Will was laughing with Jem, their hair plastered to their foreheads, and Gabriel was still coughing up seawater. Grace found a pretty little shell with a hole near the top; she thought she could string a chain through it and wear it as a necklace. Elina's thoughts were elsewhere, varying between the brightness of Jem's silver eyes and the way Will showed off his admittedly impressive muscles.

"Okay, I need a shower," she announced when she got in and dumped her stuff on a chair. "Be back soon." She left the others to their own devices as she stood in the gloriously hot water, scrubbing salt from her skin and hair. A half hour later, feeling much better, she ran a brush through her hair and slid into an old button up shirt of Jack's, which hit her at mid thigh. She rolled the sleeves up and went out into the kitchen, where Grace informed her somewhat apologetically that the rest of them had eaten. Elina retorted that it didn't matter, she wasn't hungry, and Grace left to take her own shower.

Those who had not yet had a turn to bathe– or had already had their turn– sat in the living room chatting about nothing in particular. About every half hour, someone would come back and someone else would leave.

It was late by the time everyone had a turn, and after a few mumbled "good nights" everyone headed to their own beds. Jem and Elina kept to their own sides of the bed, each on the edge, not risking contact. They feel asleep quickly, not entirely surprising since it had been a long day.

Elina woke up a short time later, in the dead of night, sweating and panting. It was only a dream, she knew, but then why could she still feel his touch on her skin? She couldn't help but remember Jack's breath on her neck, his heartbeat pounding in his chest, his body moving against her–

A pleasant sensation shuddered through her. She stood up and swallowed, hard. _Should I wake Jem, or go to Will?_ One glance at Jem made up her mind. He was so sweet, so innocent, and she wouldn't be the one to ruin it. _You see, Jem has never–_ Will had said earlier. Jem was inexperienced in the way she wanted him, and she would not taint his fragile beauty.

Her traitorous feet carried her back out to the living room, where Will lay on the couch. She put a hand over his heart, and he seemed to wake instantly; it was possible he had not been asleep.

"I thought your interests lay elsewhere," he murmured, his eyes roaming over her tangled hair, flushed face and unbuttoned shirt.

She didn't respond, just bent over and kissed him, her hands working feverishly to rid herself of clothes. He made short work of his own pants before pulling her onto his lap. They tangled together, a mess of sweaty skin and shallow breaths, until finally they were sated, which didn't take long. She rather thought he would have had more stamina, but perhaps he was out of practice.

Will made to hold Elina where she was, on top of him, but she slipped out of his grasp and stood. She looked down at his half-closed eyes and lazy smile before grabbing her clothes and stealing away to the bathroom in silence.

_I. Screwed. Up. I know it, I did, but why…?_

_You needed it, _she argued with herself.

_I did not. I _wanted_ it._

_Sex is a physical need._

_I was weak and horny. God, that's terrible. How am I going to explain this to Grace? To _Jem? Her heart stopped. _Oh, Lord. Jem. He's going to hate me. He'll think I'm some stupid slut, and I am, and then he'll never love me._

She redressed quickly and trooped back to bed, sliding in next to Jem. "I'm so sorry, Jem," she murmured, running a finger across his jaw and kissing his cheek. Then, with the taste of Will still on her lips, she fell in an uneasy sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here you go! I admit there's not too much action, but it gets pretty intense, so... I'm leaving it here for now. :) See you next time, please review! Also, I apologize for any mistakes there might be. My God damn beta/ partner (Ski October) is MIA.**

**Disclaimer: I own not the Herondales, Carstairs' or Lightwoods.**

Grace's eyes snapped open as suddenly as if someone had shaken her. As it was, she heard the faint strains of music and realized she had fallen asleep with her iPod playing, as usual. The song in question was "Just a Kiss," by Lady Antebellum: _"Just a kiss, on your lips, in the moonlight…"_ She sat up and stretched, glancing at her clock before having to do a double take.

"It's five o'clock? What the hell, why am I even awake?" she said aloud, shaking her head. "Ugh, I can't sleep." She pulled her hair back and padded out to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, but before she had a chance, she happened to look outside and see Gabriel standing on the balcony.

She shrugged, opened the French doors, and joined him, taking care to shut the doors behind her. "Couldn't sleep either?" she asked sympathetically.

He shook his head. "I always get up early, for training. My body hasn't quite adjusted to not having to do that here." He swept a hand at the view of the horizon, where the thinnest sliver of pale pink was visible. "Pretty, isn't it?"

Grace had never thought much about the view, having grown up facing the ocean, but she saw it now as though for the first time. The beach was empty, the water sparkling with a reflection of the few remaining stars. And the _sunrise…_ It had barely begun, but there were already a thousand shades of blue, green, grey and pink. "Gorgeous," she breathed in agreement, gripping the wrought iron railing encircling the balcony.

Gabriel slowly slid his hand over hers, still staring at the oncoming sunrise. She took a sharp breath but didn't pull away, the heat of his palm being much too pleasant to consider ruining the moment. "Gabriel," she whispered almost involuntarily.

"Yes?" he asked, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a funny little half-smile as he turned to look at her.

She didn't answer, just looked into his lovely green eyes, and before she really knew what was happening he had bent down and brushed his lips against hers.

"I've wanted to do that since the moment I saw you," he said softly. He reached out and pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting the blonde waves rain down over her shoulders.

Suddenly finding it hard to stand, her knees shaking, Grace took a seat on the edge of a lounge chair. Gabriel sat next to her. "Are you all right? Have I upset you?"

"Never," she murmured, tangling her hands in his brown hair and kissing him again. She had of course kissed boys before, but it was always more urgent and crazy than this, Gabriel's lips moving carefully against her own. She was happy just to take it slow, relishing the cool sweetness of him, the light pressure of his hands on her lower back.

"You're beautiful," he said in a hoarse voice, clearing his throat. He scooted back in the chair and pulled Grace into his arms, resting his chin on the crown of her head as they sat in silence and watched the sun come up. It wasn't, however, an awkward silence; it was the quietude of two people who didn't need to speak to get across their feelings.

"_Tu sei quella che stavo aspettando_," he murmured in a language Grace didn't recognize. All the same, it was beautiful, his accent impeccable.

"What does that mean?"

"It means, 'you are the one I have been waiting for'. It's Italian."

"I don't speak Italian."

"Good. Now I can call you all sorts of things and you won't understand."

She laughed. "I don't know that I like the sound of that. What sorts of things are you going to call me?"

"Let's see… _mio amore,_ _tesoro mio, passerotto mio…_"

"_Amore_ means 'love', doesn't it? Did you just say 'my love'?"

Gabriel stroked her cheek with a callused thumb. "Perhaps."

"So," she reasoned, "you love me."

"Is that a question?"

"Is that a yes?"

"It wasn't, but as a matter of fact, yes. _Yes,_ I love you, or at least I'm fairly sure. I know we just met, and it does seem rather sudden, and I do have to go home at some point, and we don't have much in common–"

"I love you, too," Grace said simply to end his rambling, burrowing her head into his chest. "This is insane. I thought love at first sight was only ever in _Romeo and Juliet. _I didn't think it would ever happen to _me_."

Gabriel wrinkled his nose. "I always hated _Romeo and Juliet."_

"What? Why?"

"They were fools. They got married after knowing each other _one day_, and Romeo was too much of a prick to make sure Juliet was _actually_ dead before he swallowed poison."

"Mm, maybe," Grace said noncommittally. "You know, when we first met I didn't even like you. I thought you were a jerk, and you kind of were."

"Herondale brings it out in me. I'm quite good-natured, normally, but I can't help being cruel to him."

"What did he do? He seems harmless enough."

Gabriel laughed harshly. "He broke my sister's heart. He led her on long enough to take her virtue and then never spoke to her again."

"Oh," she said in a soft voice. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He sounded startled. "You didn't do anything."

"I'm empathizing. I feel bad that your sister was hurt."

"Only mundanes ay they're sorry when what they mean is 'I share your grief.' Then again, I'm not entirely sure you're a mundane."

Grace pulled away so that she could face Gabriel. "What do you mean? Of course I'm a mundane. What else would I be?"

"A Shadowhunter."

"That's ridiculous. I'm sure I would have known if my parents or I–"

"Did you know that Blackwell is a Shadowhunter name? That your tattoo would mean nothing to mundanes, but everything to Nephilim? Did you know that there are stories of Shadowhunter children being born without the Sight, and that their parents usually choose to raise them as mundanes until they can be taught to See?" Gabriel sounded urgent, as though this was information she needed to understand. "I think you're one of them, which is why we need to talk with your mother. If she or your father is a Shadowhunter–"

"My father is dead," she said bluntly, "and my mother is the most ordinary person you could ever meet. I know that you're wrong."

He looked as though he wanted to argue, but "perhaps," was all he said, gesturing for her to sit back against his chest. She did, if a bit hesitantly. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't've said anything. I just thought you ought to know."

"Thanks for caring. It's so easy to talk to you. I'm glad I gave you a second chance."

"I'm glad you did, too," he said.

Inside, down the hall, Elina had just woken. She sat up and looked around, and the first thing she saw was– predictably– Jem, though she was a bit surprised to see him half undressed; he was holding his shirt instead of wearing it, which was behavior more predictable in Will.

"Jem?" she asked sleepily. He jumped and, after seeing her looking at him, blushed.

"Elina! I didn't know you were awake. I'm sorry, I'll just…" He turned away and slipped the shirt over his head, combing his hair with his fingers. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. Good thing to wake up to."

"Hm." He sat on the bed and peered at her curiously. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded, and he continued. "Last night, and I don't know if I was dreaming, but…"

Elina's heart skipped a beat and her blood froze in her veins. "Oh, no," she said, almost to herself.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You just sounded upset," she said quickly.

He smiled, which only made her feel worse. There would be no way to keep this from him forever. "Just a bit confused. Did you, by any chance, say 'I'm so sorry' to me? If so, why?"

She took a deep breath and plucked at the bedcovers. "I did, because I did a terrible thing."

"You were fine last night." His smile was gone, replaced with a look of concern and more confusion.

She winced. "About that… Look, I don't want to have to tell you this, but… I woke up last night around one, and I– I got up, I went out to the living room, and I– that is, Will and I– we– we had sex," she said in a rush, looking down and waiting for the explosion.

It never came, but what _did_ happen was worse. "You had sex with Will? Last night? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, because I saw the way he was looking at you, and I knew it was only a matter of time. I should have known, really, but I didn't want to believe that you would fall for it." He sounded hurt beyond belief, but, as he had said, not entirely surprised.

"Fall for what?"

"For his act. Look, you need to understand, at home there were always girls, lots of girls. Will would get them to follow him to bed in any of a thousand ways. Sometimes he got them drunk, sometimes he used kind words, and sometimes he just let things get too far. I don't know how he convinced you, but I didn't think you would be one of them."

"I wasn't! I mean, I was, but he didn't _convince_ me of anything. I went under my own power." As soon as the words left Elina's mouth she wanted to take them back; one look at Jem's face proved her suspicions. He looked as though he had been struck.

"That's worse. I'm not going to pretend that I don't know why. Just because I'm inexperienced does not mean I'm ignorant, and I understand that sometimes people need that kind of closeness. I thought– I thought you might have asked _me_, but clearly I'm less important to you than I feared."

Elina felt winded, as though she had fallen hard. She was used to being yelled at, and as such she was used to yelling back. She got defensive and angry when she did something wrong, but somehow Jem's voice was so quiet and yet so full of pain and disappointment that she felt utterly wretched. "I didn't want to ruin you," she whispered. "Will, he's a mess, and so am I. You're pure, and good, and innocent. I didn't want to taint that, not like this, not at midnight because I was desperate. That's how it happened for me, my first time; it was late at night, I was half-drunk and things got out of hand. I wanted it to be different for you. You deserve so much more."

"So I _don't_ deserve to have you, even if you forget that you already asked me to share your bed, but I _do_ deserve to watch the girl I like ignore me and have sex with my best friend. I don't know how I'm to become less innocent if I'm always passed over for Will, just because he's good-looking, charming, and experienced in those matters." He spoke with painful finality bordering on indifference, as though he had chosen not to care.

"Jem, I didn't mean to hurt you…" She was close to tears, and she could hear it in her voice. She had to swallow hard before speaking. "Are you angry?"

He stood up, and there was a peculiar fire in his eyes she had never seen before. "I expected you to be different than a thousand other girls, so I'm disappointed. I hoped you would choose me, so I'm a fool as well as wrong. You kissed me, more than once, and still had sex with Will before jumping back in bed with me, so I'm a bit disgusted. I truly cared for you, but you don't feel the same, so I'm heartbroken and twice the fool. So, no, I'm not angry. I just thought you were better than that." Without saying anything else he strode out of the room, taking care to slam the door just a bit on his way out.

Elina stared at the spot he was last for a few minutes. Then, all she could do was lie down again and sob until she thought she might drown. By the time she had run out of tears, the hour was close to seven and she desperately needed Grace to tell her everything was going to be all right. She clambered out of bed with her legs weak and shaking, and knocked on Grace's bedroom door. There was no answer, so she opened the door quietly. "Grace?"

Still no answer, and a quick sweep of the room revealed that Grace wasn't even there._ Weird, she's never up this early._ As it turned out, she couldn't even _find_ her friend; she wasn't in the kitchen, bathroom, or living room. _The balcony,_ she thought in that I-should-have-known way. She avoided passing through the living room– not wanting to see Will– and slid open the French doors, stepping onto the balcony.

Elina immediately gasped in surprise; she saw Gabriel first, reclining in a lounge chair, but she noticed Grace right afterwards. Her friend, who two days ago had proclaimed Gabriel Lightwood was a loser, straddled his waist with a knee planted on either side of his hips. They were kissing lazily, his hands wound in her hair, her hands on his chest.

"Oh my God!" she said before she could stop herself. Grace jumped up instantly, looking guilty, whereas Gabriel just sat there in a sort of daze, his lips swollen.

"It was exactly what it looked like," Grace said quickly.

"Wow, I don't even care what you were doing. Could I– Could I talk to you?" She bit her lip and let a little bit of the misery she felt show on her face.

"Sure. Gabriel, I'll be back later, okay? Lina, what's wrong?" she added in a whisper.

"Come on. This is private." Elina dragged Grace back to her bedroom, sitting on the bed and gesturing for her to do the same. The whole sordid story, starting with her dream and ending with Jem's reaction, poured out. A few more tears were shed, but Grace's expression remained unchanged.

"And now I don't know what to do," Elina confessed.

"Well, you screwed up royally. You know that, right? Good. Give him time. Let him work it out on his own."

"Let him work it out on his own? What if he can't forgive me? What if he never works it out? What if he hates me?"

Grace shrugged and stood up. "Not really my problem, is it?"

"Not your… Grace, you're my best friend!"

"You want me to fix everything because you had sex with one boy while you're in love with his best friend, all because you got horny remembering what it was like to have sex with your ex boyfriend. I'm sorry, but I'm with Jem. You completely betrayed him for no good reason. If you love him and he loves you, there's no corruption. Just because you take his virginity at midnight doesn't mean it _ruins_ him. You made it sound like having sex with him is this horrible taboo thing."

"_I did not make it sound like that_! No one understands!"

"Than maybe you should be alone."

"Why are you being like this?"

Grace's hazel eyes flashed. "Because I don't think you know what love is. I don't think you know that when you're in love, it doesn't matter what you do, where, when, or why. It just matters that you did. That's why you couldn't deal with Jack, and that's why you had to screw up this thing with Jem. Because you don't know how to love anyone."

"Get. Out." Elina's voice was a growl. Her friend had _never_ spoken to her like that, and she was not in the mood. "Go back and make out with Gabriel, that's what you want to do, isn't it? Your supposed great _love_?"

"It's a damn sight nearer than you've got!" Grace made sure the door slammed on her way out. Elina felt the pressure behind her eyes that normally announced tears, but she couldn't even cry. It was like now that Grace hated her, nothing mattered anymore. She loved Jem. She hurt him. She loved Grace. Grace hated her. Maybe Grace had been right. _Or maybe I'm just so unworthy of love that I drive everyone else away._

**Note: Gabriel calls Grace: "My love, my darling, my little bird." Yes, "my little bird." Apparently it's very romantic in Italy.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Guys, I am SO SO SO sorry this took so long. I'm also sorry if it sucks, because I have one irate fan (*cough cough* CARLIE FRAY *cough cough*) on my case, and so I didn't have time to run this by my lovely beta/partner/soulmate, Ski October. I know this is a bit longer than usual, but I doubt anyone cares. If all my readers haven't abandoned me, some feedback would be nice. Review?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I give credit for Shadowhunter Academy and "You're not even Chinese!" to TheGreenBook, who bears with me through... everything.**

As Elina had discovered years ago, it was impossible to cry when you knew everything was absolutely your own damn fault. She had absolutely no reason to sleep around with Will except that she _wanted_ to, thought she _needed_ to. She felt like every scumbag boyfriend making excuses to the girlfriend he cheated on. _Still_, she thought,_ Jem and I aren't actually dating. There's been no betrayal._

_Oh, you filthy liar, _the voice of Grace said in her mind. Grace's voice was her conscience. _He loves you and you know it. Knew it then, too, and maybe you love and maybe you don't but either way, you knew how he felt and you still screwed around on him. I'd think twice before trying to win him back if I were you, just so you know you aren't going to do it again. Are you going to do it again?_

"No," she said aloud, the forcefulness in her voice surprising her. "I will not." Still on her self-discovery high, she strode out of the room… And crumbled as soon as she saw Jem. He was placidly listening to Will, who was wildly waving his arms and obviously telling a wild story, but it was clear that Jem's heart wasn't in the part of 'careful listener'. It was clear that there were other, darker things on his mind, things that were ripping him apart.

Feeling worse than she did before, Elina turned to find Grace before she remembered that Grace, too, hated her. Elina wondered how she could have managed to destroy everything so thoroughly.

"Lina?" Grace's voice came out of seemingly nowhere, but there she was, right in front of Elina. She looked sad and confused, the way she always had when the pair of them fought in the past. "Lina, we need to talk."

Grace led the way to her own bedroom, Elina following closely. It occurred to Elina that Grace had never called her 'Lina' as much in their entire lives as in the past few days. "Sit down," Grace ordered, but her voice had an unexpected softness to it.

"I wanted to start off by apologizing," she said a little awkwardly. "I shouldn't have said all those awful things, and I saw your face, so I know that– that you really do love Jem. God knows we all get carried away sometimes." She almost smiled. "The real question now is, what are you going to do to win him back?"

"To… what?" Elina's brain was working sluggishly.

"To win him back," Grace repeated patiently. "Don't tell me you're going to just leave him as he is! Haven't you seen how broken he is? He needs you, and you need him. It's time for a heart to heart."

"We already had one of those, and in case you forgot, it didn't go so well," Elina reminded her dryly.

"I'm serious. Sit him down and explain everything."

"You think I didn't do that before? I tried to soften the blow and I just made it worse. I'm not speaking to him about anything resembling our fight for a long time, if ever."

"So you're never going to speak again. Lovely. This probably isn't what you want to hear right now, after everything, but what are you going to do about the Ball? It's on Saturday, and you can't possibly go without a date, can you? I mean, I assume we'll be taking the boys, but… You're not on any of their good sides right now, especially Jem's. I guess you already know that."

Elina groaned and dropped her face into her hands. "I don't know. Maybe I won't go. No, Mother would just drag me there. I just… I don't know. What does Gabriel think I should do?"

"You're asking me about _Gabriel_? The only things I know about him is that he disapproves of your actions, he's my date for the Ball, and he thinks we should go and visit my mother later today."

This roused Elina from her stupor. "Your _mother_? Why?"

"He thinks Mom knows something about my past that she's not telling me. I don't know. He thinks I'm a Shadowhunter, but isn't that the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?"

She sighed. "I don't know what's ridiculous anymore. Yes, I'll admit it's suspicious, but it's no stranger than time traveling, right?"

"I suppose," Grace said doubtfully. She wasn't sure, by she didn't feel like arguing with Elina again. She _hated_ when they fought, no matter how short their disagreements always were or whose fault it was. "You are coming, right? To Mom's house, I mean. I don't think I can go alone."

"You won't be alone. You'll have the boys."

"But they don't know me like you do. I need someone who understands." Grace was pleading; she so rarely asked for anything, so rarely needed Elina, that she couldn't help but give in.

"All right, I'll come. When are we going?"

"Well…" Grace had on her 'you're-not-going-to-like-this' face. "I was kinda thinking now?"

Elina sighed; she didn't much care about anything anymore. "Let me change. I need about ten minutes."

True to her word, it was eight minutes before she left her bedroom, wearing jean shorts and a faded t-shirt with the saying, "Trust me, I'm the Doctor," on it. "All right, Grace, ready?" Without waiting for an answer she slid on her flip-flops and grabbed her keys, practically flying down to her car. To her surprise, it was Gabriel who joined her first.

"If you're here to berate me for what I did, don't bother," she warned dully. "I already feel like crap."

He shook his head. She noted that his lips were still slightly swollen, which did not endear him to her; she was in a crisis and Grace _still_ cared more about making out with Gabriel? "It's not that. It's… At first, when Grace told me what happened, I'll admit I was less than pleased. I couldn't imagine doing that to someone I cared about. Then I saw your face when you saw _him_, and… Well, I can tell it's not easy for you."

"No, it's _not_ easy! I screwed up, I know I did, and I hate myself for it every minute! I'd do anything to take it back, but I can't, so–"

"So you'll just sit here in agony, watching him be miserable?"

"Yes," she said stubbornly, hopping in her car and holding her head high. He shrugged, but climbed in as well, albeit much more cautiously. Grace, Will, and Jem all came out at that time and joined them in the car. Elina took off without another word; she knew the way to Grace's like the back of her hand.

They pulled up outside soon after. Grace lived in a pretty little Victorian house painted a soft shade of blue. It was old, but well taken care of. "Are you ready?" Gabriel whispers to Grace as they walked up the front path.

She started to nod, but changed her mind and shook her head. "But then again, I'll never be ready." She tried to smile, confused by the bittersweet sorts of feelings flowing through her. "Do I want to know the truth? Do I want to know that I'm not who I've always thought I was? Then again, know that I know there _is_ a Shadow World, how could I ever go back? Knowing's always better than not knowing, right?"

"Always, in my book," Gabriel said, taking Grace's hand. She smiled but shook him off before ringing the doorbell. A short, compact, blonde woman with piercing grey eyes answered.

"Grace!" she said, absolutely startled. She composed herself and stood tall, looking a bit haughty. "I believe I asked you not to come where you're no longer welcome."

Elina pushed past Gabriel. "Mrs. Blackwell, please let us in. I think you know why." She swept her arm to indicate Will, Jem, and Gabriel, who all that beautiful-yet-deadly look, their Marks clearly visible to those who could see through glamour. She blanched.

"I…" She looked around as though to make sure the neighbors weren't looking around. Luckily, the coast was clear as she ushered them all in. Grace's mother couldn't have been more different from her daughter. Where Grace was all softness and a warm, steady fire in her eyes, her mother was sharp angles and harsh flames. She was cold and hot at the same time, the look of someone who could switch between stern mother and fierce warrior at the drop of a hat.

She sighed as she dropped into an armchair in the small but comfortable living room, looking suddenly tired. "I suppose you're here for the truth. I should start by apologizing, Grace, for kicking you out. I thought– I thought that if you saw that I was upset with you for… _that_"– she gestured at Grace's shoulder–"you wouldn't go looking too hard for anything else. I suppose I thought that you would listen to me for once."

"You know me better, Mom," Grace said quietly. Unlike Elina, who was lounging lazily on a loveseat, or the boys, who were sharing a couch with matching expressions revealing their grim sense of purpose, she refused to relax. She hovered by the door with her arms crossed over her chest, her mouth pursed. "You tried to hide the real world from me."

"It's not real to you, it's not part of your life–"

"Well, it should have been! Like it or not, I'm part of this world! Your world, right? You're a Shadowhunter, aren't you?"

"And just this morning she was convinced it couldn't have been her mother," Gabriel muttered to Jem, who almost smiled.

Mrs. Blackwell sighed again, more sadly. "I… was a Shadowhunter, yes. I was born Adira Nightshade to a decently well-respected family in Idris. I met your father at Shadowhunter Academy when I was eighteen. It's a school for Nephilim to attend for the second half of their seventeenth year. I suppose you three have attended?" She addressed Will, Jem, and Gabriel. Gabriel nodded, but the others shook their heads.

"Well, Evan Blackwell was a few months younger than I, but we got along right away. Already we planned a future together…" She cleared her throat. "We both knew we didn't want to live in Idris, and so when Evan was offered the chance to run the Baltimore Institute, we took it immediately. Then– then I got pregnant. I told Evan that I didn't want to raise our child as a Shadowhunter, because of all the danger it could put you in. He believed me."

"Believed you? Were you lying?"

"No," Adira said fiercely. "I wanted to protect you, yes, but… Look, I never wanted this life for myself. I didn't want to be a Shadowhunter, I never did. I hated this life growing up, so when I found out I was pregnant… I took the chance to save myself as well as you. You were my saving grace, that's how I chose your name."

She finished her story with something almost like pride that deflated like a popped balloon when she saw Grace's expression.

"You _used_ me," Grace said in the scary-calm voice she always used when she was only truly upset. "You used me as an excuse so that you could change your life. You forced my father to abandon his life because you were_ selfish!_ You kept me from my true self because you were _selfish!"_

"I never kept you from anything!" Adira yelled as she stood up, waving her arms wildly. "I happened to get lucky, you were born without the Sight. It's rare, but it happens, which made it easy for me. You were kept from the Shadow World because you have no part in it! You wouldn't even be able to see it if someone hadn't taught you to See!"

"_That should have been you teaching me!"_ Grace screamed with total abandon. "You're my _mother_, you're a _Shadowhunter_, you have one job to do and that's kill demons! You're useless if you don't, just a stupid mundane like you wish I was!"

"I don't want you to be anything other than what you are," Adira said angrily, but she had quieted down considerably and her voice was more even. "Grace, I just wanted you to be safe, can't you see that?"

"No, I can't."

Elina looked between the two and bit her lip. She knew the truth had to come out, but she never expected it to go so badly. One glance at the couch made her lose hope of the boys stepping in; Gabriel looked too terrified at Grace's current condition, Will was watching the whole scene gleefully, and Jem was lost again in his own melancholy moodiness.

"Wow, pretty lucky, then," she joked, hoping to soften the moods, "that a Shadowhunter girl managed to make friends with a girl who had the Sight."

Adira's head whipped around to face Elina. Her hair slapped her in the face, but she looked too surprised to care. "You knew you had the Sight?"

"I know now, _they_ told me," she said, pointing at the couch. "I didn't before, why?"

"It's an odd coincidence, don't you think? Your father Robert was born with the Sight too, Elina. That's why you can See, and that's how we met. He saw through my glamour."

Elina blinked. "He knew about this? And he never told me?"

"Even your mother doesn't know."

Elina shrugged; she didn't care about her depraved past nearly as much as Grace did. Then again, Grace had more to lose. "Good enough."

Grace put her hand on the doorknob. "Elina, we're leaving. And as soon as I can, I'm going to Baltimore, to the Institute, and getting them to train me."

"You're probably too old," Adira whispered in a sort of pleasure. "They won't take you."

"Oh, yes they will," Grace said dangerously as she stormed out. Gabriel jumped up to follow her, and the other two close behind. Elina hesitated. "Mrs. Blackwell, why did you bother kicking Grace out for the tattoo? You must have known she'd have figured out the meaning eventually. It was kind of a bad plan."

"I know," Grace's mother said dejectedly, her fire going out as she sank back into her chair. "But it was all I had. It was my only chance."

Elina nodded. "Sorry it was such a short conversation, but… at least we know, right? And knowing's always better than not knowing."

Adira was so quiet that Elina made it all the way to the car before her brain worked out the words she whispered: "Is it?"

The ride home was awkward, to say the least. As soon as they arrived at the apartment, Grace slammed the car door and ran upstairs without waiting for anyone. By the time the rest of them got up, she had locked herself in her room and wasn't coming out. "I need to think this out on my own," she stipulated softly from behind her door. The others decided to let her, and though it took a few hours, she eventually came out.

It was late afternoon, and her eyes were red-rimmed. "Sorry it took so long, guys," she muttered, bravely trying to smile. It failed miserably.

Gabriel jumped up from his perch and hastened to her side. "Listen," he said carefully as he took her hand in both of his, "we don't care who or what you think you should be, whether it be Nephilim or mundane. All we care about is who you_ are_. You're Grace Blackwell, and nothing matters besides the fact that we love you, all right?"

Her smile this time was genuine if shaky. "As long as _you_ believe it," she said, "than what does it matter if I do?"

There was silence, but it was less awkward and more… Nothing needed to be said, because everyone already knew everything. "So," Elina said after a moment, "is it okay if I order Chinese food? I'm starving even if no one else is."

Grace nodded with a little laugh; Elina was _always_ starving, and could eat Chinese food even under threat of nuclear war. Will looked suddenly so intrigued you could almost see his ears pricking up.

"Can you order that?"

"Sure," Grace explained. "You tell that what you want, and they bring it to you. Easy."

Will nodded thoughtfully. "Jem should feel right at home, then." He nudged his friend, who started as though he hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation.

"At home? What?"

"Jem is Chinese," Will informed the girls. Elina looked interested for a minute before getting distracted by searching for the ever-elusive phone book that had the Golden Dragon's takeout menu tucked inside. After what felt like ten minutes but was really more like two, she held it up in victory. "_Victoire!_" she cried, using the only French word she could ever remember. "Grace and I know what we want, so you three just look through and I'll write the order down."

Jem snatched the menu first, his frown deepening with every page turn. "This is not Chinese food. This is…"

"This is America, baby. We take what was yours and make it our own, but less appealing than the original," Elina said with a grin.

There were many explanations and more than one argument, but finally an order was compiled. Apparently, Golden Dragon _had_ no other orders at the time, so it was an estimation of fifteen minutes– less time than it took to decide what to order, Elina noted, amused– before the order would arrive. In the meantime, she decided to take Grace up on her advice.

"Jem?" she said quickly, before she could lose her nerve. "Could I speak with you for a moment?"

"But of course," he said a little stiffly, following her to the guest bedroom, where they could speak without interruption. She didn't dare go back into their– _her_– room.

"I wanted to apologize again," she said in a rush. "I know I messed up, and you know I messed up, so I wanted to be sure that you knew I knew I messed up, too. Anyway, it was a terribly stupid thing to do, but there are some times when you can't help yourself. You know it's a bad idea, but you do it anyway under the foolish assumption that maybe it's _not_ a bad idea, maybe there _won't_ be consequences."

She bit her lip and tried to maintain eye contact. "I guess what I mean is, there are times, usually at night, were something seems like a good idea, so you go along with it. Then, in the harsh realities of daylight, you realize just how much of a screw-up you are, but it's sometimes too late. I don't want it to be too late, Jem," she said desperately. "I think we could have something important, something real, and I don't want to lose it just because of Will."

He blinked at her. "I'm not sure you know what 'real' and 'important' are," he said in a tone that clearly conveyed his surprise without being insulting. "I think that yes, you made a mistake, and as pleased as I am to know you recognize that, it won't change anything. It can't, really. I love Will and I thought I loved you, but I won't subject myself to this sort of pain if it's not going to get me anywhere."

He smiled, more sadly than anything else. "Perhaps we could have had something beautiful, but it's a little late now. I'm sorry, but that's how it has to be." His voice confirmed his words: he was done. He tried to hide his face as he turned away, not wanting her to see how much torment he was in.

The doorbell rang before Elina could say anything else, which startled her. Had it been fifteen minutes? She didn't think so. Jem rushed out of the room to answer the door.

"Hello," she heard him say. "What can I help you with?"

"Uh, I'm looking for…" There was a pause. "Elina Carter?" Elina rushed to the door, taking the plastic bag of food from the gangly delivery boy, whose acne had not cleared up a bit since the last time he had delivered to her apartment.

"I'm here, it's me," she said to Jake, the delivery boy. "Here's the money."

Jem was staring at the boy in shock. "W-what am I missing?"

Grace looked over at him in confusion. "It's the Chinese delivery guy."

Jem shook his head. "He's not even Chinese!"

"Remember what I said about America?" she said gently, but Jem was already gone. He looked like something inside him snapped, and he ran into the bathroom and locked the door; they all heard the audible _click._

"Maybe you should go," Elina told Jake awkwardly.

"No way, man. I want to see this."

Will ran to the door and tried to wrench it open. Abandoning the effort, he pulled out what looked like a silvery birch twig and drew something on the doorknob. There was a puff of smoke, Will's triumphant laugh, and… nothing. The door refused to open. Will swore fluently for a few minutes, it what sounded like French and Mandarin, but no one really knew. "He's used a God damn locking rune! James, open the door."

"No!" Jem yelled defiantly. "I'm sick of this! I'm sick of America, where nothing is what it should be! I'm sick of this century, where honesty means nothing! I can't _deal_ with it anymore!"

"James, this is not the way to deal with your problems," Will said soothingly. "Just open the door, and–"

"William Herondale, don't you dare lecture me on dealing with your problems! Did you forget that right now, Tessa's waiting for you? She's in London, waiting for you to come back, expecting you to stay faithful to her! She loves you, and you can't deal with that, so you take the first opportunity to take whatever woman you could find into your bed so you don't have to think about Tessa and her love!"

Grace turned to Elina, but she was just as puzzled as her friend. Will had a girl he was courting? She loved him? Why hadn't he told them before he flirted with Grace and slept with Elina?

"Jem," Will said firmly, obviously not wanting to respond to the whole rant about Tessa, whoever she was. "Jem, I know how you feel, but–"

"No, you _don't_ know how I feel. You have no idea how I feel. You don't know what it's like for someone you love to choose someone else over you, just like everyone else already has. All the girls flock to you, but _she_ was the only one who ever looked at me instead of you, and I lost that, too. You have no idea how this feels."

Elina squirmed guiltily and wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. To her great surprise, it was Jake who stepped forward. "Look, dude, I got you. There was this one chick, right? And she totally digged me. We went out, like, four times and everything. Then, she met my friend, and she so left me for him, right? But now I heard that he dumped her, so I was, like, thinking about getting her back."

It was dead silent for a moment. "Was that English?" Jem asked incredulously from behind his door. "Well, I think I managed to comprehend the basic idea."

Jake scratched his head. "And you said you were sick of America, right? I totally know how that feels. I went to Canada once, on like a school trip or whatever, and it was, like, way nicer. The people were so much more chill, and stuff was just, you know… better."

"Yes," Jem said slowly, "I believe I know _that_ feeling. So this girl you like, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, she was totally begging for me, you know? She was all, 'I'm so sorry, Jake, I forgot how cool and hot and stuff you were', so I was like, 'sure, babe, I'll take you back', so now we're so getting along. She deserved a second chance, you know? And I like, loved her. We've been together for a whole week since then."

More silence, and then they heard something crack inside the bathroom. Will smiled in a satisfied way. "That was him undoing the locking rune," he explained to Elina and Grace.

"Sorry I'm not actually Chinese, bro," Jake was saying to the door. "I remember when I was this little kid, right, my parents took me to this Italian restaurant, and no one there was even Italian. I was wicked pissed, you know? I wanted this big dude to be making pizza in the kitchen and speaking Italian, right?"

There were one more click– the sounds of Jem unbolting the door. "Jake did it!" Grace whispered to Elina. "He actually did it!" Jem stepped out, looking calmer and much more intrigued.

Jake led Jem into a strange, complicate bro handshake that only guys seem capable of doing, even if Jem didn't look like he knew what he was doing. Jake saluted everyone, grabbed a chicken finger out of the box, and headed out the door, calling a muffled 'you're welcome' to their yelled 'thanks'. The door shut behind him, and the smell of Chinese food filled the apartment.


	7. Author's Note

Hello, readers! Greetings from Ski October and I! We know it's been almost two years since we've updated, and we're very sorry about that. For a while we were having problems coordinating our efforts, then we were busy, then we wanted to wait for all the Infernal Devices books were out before figuring anything out, and now that we've been devoured (and adored) Clockwork Princess, we've decided we're going to reboot this story. We have some new ideas, more consistent, well-rounded character developments, and more backstory.

We're working on that right now, and we should be able to get the first chapter up within the next two weeks. In fact, I'll guarantee that. When we've finished that first chapter, it will be posted as a new story, also entitled "As Lightning Struck the Sea", and this story will be deleted. If there's anything you particularly loved about this story, some details or bits of dialogue (plot will remain the same, roughly) that you really want to stay, please, let us know, and we'll work it into the new story to the absolute best of our ability. We want to thank you all for reading and enjoying the story, and we hope to see you again soon with the new story.

(Also, sorry if this gave you false hope for a new chapter. Very very sorry. I hate when that happens.)


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